Silent Witnesses
by TheVictim
Summary: A Xenobiologist explores the mysteries of the Zerg, and his own fate as his UED expedition picks through the remains of former Confederate territory. Takes place many years after the fall of the UED in Brood War, in the same universe as Another 3.1
1. Default Chapter

  
SILENT WITNESSES – PART I  
  
The UED science vessel Inquisitor drifted silently through space en route from Alpha base on HD144168 to the remainder of the fleet at Beta base. The UED expedition was trying to gain enough of a foothold in the area to determine what had become of their previous foray into this sector. This base was like many others, besieged by the alien xenomorphs known as the Zerg. Enough reinforcements had arrived to allow most of the soldiers stationed there to escape. Some interesting Zerg specimens had also been collected, including some material from the newly observed creature that had been nicknamed 'The Lurker'.  
  
Darrin LaCross had been conscripted from a cadre of university xenobiologists as one of the few civilians ever to man the crew of an Explorer class UED science vessel. His studies of Protoss physiology and psionic symbiosis had allowed the UED to successfully deter attempts by the Protoss to subjugate human telepaths to their will. This was becoming an increasing problem as human colonies infringed on the edges of Protoss held territories. Security had finished scanning the Zerg remains and the quarantine period was now over. Darrin programmed his hovercart and left the xenobiology lab for the holding area. On the way he passed by Behavioral Sciences. One of the patients was being difficult.  
  
"They're HERE, they are with us now!" A man screamed as two orderlies tried to subdue him. "I know what they want!" He continued.   
  
"Let's tranq this guy" An orderly said as he pulled the man out from the doorway.  
  
"We need authorization from the medical officer on duty." His partner said. "I'd like nothing more than to give this guy a thousand milligrams of SHUT THE HELL UP" He added, wrestling the patient to the ground. The orderlies appeared to be making some headway. The man calmed down as Darrin passed by. He looked up at him.  
  
"They want you." The man said quietly. The orderlies picked him up off the floor and strapped him to a stretcher.  
  
"This one is worse than that stim junkie they pulled out of a bunker yesterday." One said.  
  
"Yea, but that field medic was hot. She looked kinda attached to that Corporal though." His friend retorted. Darrin continued down the hall towards Security.  
  
Darrin punched his security code into the keypad in the holding area and the door whooshed open. There were several good pieces here. There was a large chunk of carapace that appeared to be too large to be from anything but an Ultralisk, some Hydralisk spines and body parts, and then there was the Lurker tentacle. Darrin had never seen one before. It was magnificent. It was also pretty big. He would need some help to move it. There were some techs rummaging through some remains from a Protoss robotic facility abandoned on Grimatryon III in the holding area next to his. He would enlist some of them to load the Zerg remains onto his hovercart.  
  
Darrin walked into the holding area and was amazed at the sea of robotic junk piled up before him. He saw parts of Reavers, a couple of dormant probes, even an Observer droid that looked relatively intact. Darrin knew the Protoss as well as any human could hope to, but did not understand their dependency on robotics, especially after the discovery that their robotic units were completely autonomous. Before the time of the UED, even before man had traveled beyond the solar system, we realized the folly of providing war machines with autonomous thought. Never again would mankind rely on the planning of machines in time of war.   
  
"Could I get some help loading my cart, I'm next door in Holding area 3. I got some big pieces over there." Darrin asked.  
  
"Pieces of WHAT?" A tech asked, plugging a power cable into a probe. He started loading data from the probe into his palm computer.  
  
"Nothing messy, just heavy." Darrin said. "Did Security scan that reaver for armed Scarab drones?" He added.  
  
"I disarmed a Scarab drone and took it back to Engineering last night. I'm through with the reaver for now. Peterson is going to weld it into a tobogan for his kid when he gets back home. They have snow all the time where lives." The tech said. "I wiped the Scarab's programming and Bartleby from the Alpha base armory helped me remove the explosive. It's going to make a great bowling ball." He added, grinning ear to ear.  
  
'These tech geeks really need to get a life.' Darrin thought. They put down their gear and followed Darrin to the holding area. The probe continued uploading data to the tech's palm computer. The Zerg remains were loaded onto his cart. He programmed it for the Xenobiology Lab loading dock and it hummed toward it's destination. It would take a while to get their with it's load. Darrin decided a break for lunch was appropriate. The techs unplugged their palm computer and went to dump it's data into their main computer.  
  
Lunch on board a UED science vessel was an interesting experience. Interesting in the fact that despite your non-combatant status most of the time, you got to eat the same supply depot synthesized crap that the frontline troops were treated to. Nanomolecular assemblers break up mineral deposits and Vespene, reassembling them into a slurry that contains approximations of vitamins, carbohydrates, and some basic amino acids. The amino acids are not quite protein, but close enough for military use. The slurry is artificially flavored into a variety of shapes and textures. All equally bland. Darrin selected 'Barbequed Pork Riblet Patty' and 'Mixed Vegetables in Cream Sauce' and chose to drink plain old water. The synthesized beverages were best described as indescribable and left at that. The Zerg are a true horror to behold when you begin to study their physiology, but if you are what you eat, them some alien xenobiologist is going to have a fit when they dig up our remains eighty zillion years from now.  
  
During his repast, Darrin looked out of the viewport in the mess hall toward the stars. A shimmer passed his field of vision, distorting the view of space. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the shimmer was gone. The long days of study were beginning to take their toll. Darrin decided after he examined the current load of remains that some rest might be in order. He promised himself an early night. Being a civilian he at least had that right.  
  
Upon his return to Xenobiology, Darrin began examining the remains of the Zerg. His first task would be to isolate the DNA strains from each sample and compare them to the list of known Zerg broods. He suspected they were from the Tiamat brood like the rest of the Confederacy's conscripted Zerg. First there was the Hydralisk spines. One in particular was interesting. It was pulled from the chest of a field medic as a dropship was retreating from Alpha base. The spine was of the grooved variety, allowing for much farther range of flight. This was a development almost as amazing as the Hydralisk itself.  
  
The name Hydralisk was pretty much a misnomer. The first time the creatures were observed they were incorrectly assumed to be expectorating a liquid when attacking. They were thus termed "Hydra"lisks. In reality their attack is much more complex. The closest approximation would be that of the terran Conch snail. The creatures store dozens of the dense spines in the linings of their mouth. They arm their attack by swallowing the base of a spine, forming a cannon-like aperture with their throat. A pair of glands generate and store highly reactive hydrocarbons that are mixed at the base of the throat. These hydrocarbons catalyze with the lining of the Hydralisk's throat, causing an exothermic reaction. The speed of the reaction is equivalent to a low-order explosive. The liquid that is expelled after the creature fires it's attack is actually condensed from the products of the combustion of the hydrocarbons. Misinformation about the Protoss and Zerg was spreading far too quickly. Darrin LaCross' work would help put an end to some of the folly.  
  
It was thought that the spread of the Zerg would be limited to planets that had previously harbored life due to their dependence on 'natural gas'. After the discovery by Charles Vespene that 'natural' gas was in fact part of almost every planetary body and the hydrocarbons it comprised of were developed as matter conglomerated shortly after the big bang, terran xenobiologists soon realized that the Zerg could thrive almost anywhere. Vespene had been killed while researching gas deposits on one of the first worlds where the Zerg were later discovered. These gas deposits have borne his name ever since his death, many years before the existence of the Zerg was finally known.  
  
Darrin scraped some tissue residue off of the spine for DNA sequencing. The computer was taking an unusually long time to process the data. He moved on to the next task while waiting for the result.  
  
He didn't need DNA sequencing to realize there was a drastic difference between the Zergling carapace fragments found today and those he had examined earlier. His bone saw almost broke a blade cutting off a piece. Its density was much greater than any he had ever seen before. Depleted U-238 ammunition had barely managed to crack it. The striation of the mineral deposits was consistent with the Tiamat brood variant controlled by the Confederates, but the deposits were much denser. Darrin concluded that an individual creature could not have developed the tougher carapace as a reaction to environment, he could only conclude that the genes had somehow been mutated to allow this development. This was not by accident. Not this quickly. It had only been a week.  
  
The computer finally concluded the DNA sequencing. Darrin could not believe what he saw. The genes of these particular Zerglings and Hydralisks had been modified while the creatures were still alive. The telltale leftovers of a retrovirus cluttered the DNA strands. The Zerg had a way to improve the genetic code of their broods on demand, by design. This discovery had implications that Darrin and the rest of humanity could only begin to fathom. Darrin decided this would be a very good time for an early night. He had been working for six straight hours. He buttoned down the lab and headed for his quarters.   
  
He lay there for close to an hour, but was still unable to sleep. Darrin's civilian quarters were more spacious and comfortable than those on the rest of the ship, but he could not bring himself to fall asleep. He dwelled on the discoveries of the day. He then realized he hadn't even had a chance to examine the 'Lurker' remains. What secrets would they reveal? As Darrin finally attempted to drift into sleep the air about the room stirred. He opened his eyes. A faint shimmer appeared in the darkness. A quiet hum could be heard, increasing in pitch. It source was obvious to one who had studied the Protoss for so long.   
  
"OH MY GOD" Thought Darrin, "THERE IS A DARK TEMPLAR IN HERE". He bolted from the bed as a sharp buzz erupted from the bunk. The bunk had a 6 inch wide gash through it that penetrated the floor and into the next deck. Darrin remembered the incredible damage the Dark Templar could cause with their force blades. He also knew the weapon needed time to draw psi power from it's wielder before it would be ready to strike again. He could use this delay to escape. He launched himself from the foot of the bed to where he thought the attacker would be. He felt his shoulder impact something in the darkness, then he slipped to the floor. The quiet hum reached a high pitch again. Darrin rolled toward the dressing cabinet and the force blade struck again. Another gash appeared in the floor, creating an opening to the lower deck large enough for a man. Darrin was an opportunist. He felt the opportunity to survive should not be passed up, and rolled into the opening.   
  
The room below was dimly lit from the flashes of power being transferred to and from large stacks of plastic sheets sandwiched between metal plates. Darrin had reached the Capacitor Room on the Engineering deck. Explorer class science vessels we able to store and discharge huge amounts of power. Piezoelectric hydrocarbon plastics stored the power much like an electronic capacitor, but on a much larger scale. This required huge amounts of Vespene in order to manufacture but the benefits were clearly worth the cost. The Explorer class was being used more and more for combat support due to it's capacity for power discharge. It could project a halo of power around any combat unit that would momentarily absorb any attacks directed at it. Ionizing radiation could be beamed for a considerable distance, causing a highly radioactive accumulation that can destroy almost any Zerg creature in less than a minute. Some Explorer class ships have even received EMP shockwave missiles to discharge and disable electrical and psionic energy systems.  
  
Darrin heard the Dark Templar's force blade strike again. A thud could be heard behind him as the Dark Templar landed on the ground. Darrin made a dash for the door. He smacked the emergency alarm button. Nothing happened. The computer status display on the comm panel was completely blank. The main computer was down. Darrin hastily punched his security code into the door lock. Fortunately the door locks operated independently from the main computer and the security codes were manually updated. He stole a quick glance toward the Dark Templar. His cloaking field was resonating with storage capacitors. Where the Dark Templar's cloaking field crossed them you could see waves of light ripple through the plastic sheets. The Dark Templar had recovered from it's fall and was heading towards him at what could be considered a leisurely pace. The Dark Templar had every reason to be confident. The invisible warriors were the most feared assassins ever known. Silent witnesses to the deaths of many who opposed the Protoss. The heavily armored door finally opened and Darrin dashed through it and into the corridor.  
  
Darrin raced for the nearest engineering lab and keyed his code into the door. The door to the Capacitor Room opened at the same time. He ducked inside and closed the door. He entered a command to seal the door. Huge blast doors slid into place in front of him. A raspy 'thwang' could be heard as the Dark Templar started to assault the door with its force blade. It would take him some time to penetrate the blast armor, but the Dark Templar would eventually get through. With the comm system and internal sensors down, it would not have to fear detection or help from security any time soon.   
  
A tech was in the rear of the long and expansive lab. Darrin trotted to the bench the tech was working at. The face looked familiar, it was one of the techs that helped him load the Zerg remains earlier. Darrin was beginning to run a bit short of breath.  
  
"There is an intruder outside, a Protoss Dark Templar." Darrin panted. Another 'thwang' could be heard from the door. "He trying to kill me and God knows what he's going to do after that." He added.  
  
"I'll contact security and put the internal defenses on alert." The tech replied. The tech seemed strangely calm.  
  
"I already tried that, the main computer and the comm system are down. Probably the Dark Templar's handiwork." Darrin said. "What's your name anyway?"  
  
"Riley Wayne, I'm a civilian consultant as well." The tech said. Another slash of the Dark Templar's force blade echoed across the expanse of the mostly empty engineering lab.   
  
"Well, Riley, it's good to know that the military considers us useful enough to bring along. But unless we can figure out a way out of here then it won't matter. Two more dead civilians won't be of any concern to the UED." Darrin explained.  
  
"That door is the only way out of here. The entire engineering deck is armored. There is probably something around here we can fight it off with." Riley said hopefully.  
  
"His shields alone can take several direct hits from a C-10 canister rifle. Nothing you have here is going to help us." Darrin admitted. "The Protoss do not kill without a very specific reason. If I am his only target, he will allow you to live and attempt escape instead." Darrin added. He was about to accept his fate when he saw a small cylinder sitting on the bench. It looked somewhat familiar. "Is that the explosive core from the Scarab drone? We might be able to use that on it." Darrin asked hopefully.  
  
"It is, but Bartleby said it was almost harmless without the Scarab drone. The explosive force is carefully channeled by the inner chamber of the Scarab drone to propel monomolecular lances out from the drone. The dispersal pattern is programmed into the computer in the drone by the Reaver at the moment it's fired. That is why the 'toss don't get hit when their Scarabs blow up. It's a frickin' masterpiece!" Riley explained enthusiastically, obviously fascinated by the process. The Dark Templar's force blade swiped at the door again.  
  
"Could we program it to attack the Dark Templar?" Darrin asked hopefully.   
  
"How? They have a cloaking field don't they? We would need to update the Scarab drone with the Dark Templar's exact readings right before it's fired or else we could get nailed too. We need to see the thing to do that." Riley explained.  
  
"Don't you have a sensor unit in here?" Darrin asked. He was running out of ideas. The Dark Templar was also running out of door. The sound of its force blade was getting louder, due to the fact it had less material to cleave apart now.  
  
"We have those." Riley said, indicating a powered down Protoss probe and Observer unit. "The observer could see it, and the probe's AI is incredibly complex, it should be able to program the Scarab's CPU. It's a standard CPU module for the Protoss."  
  
Darrin could almost see the gears turning in Riley's head. Even when it was time to die these tech geeks would never quit playing with their toys.  
  
"All we have to do is convince them to do it." Riley added.  
  
"WHAT?" Darrin spouted, somewhat confused at Riley's statement.  
  
"They can talk, if you know how to plug 'em in. Terran is an incredibly simple language for them. All Protoss AI units are programmed to understand it. Just tell it what to do and why it needs to do it, and it will." Riley explained, as though he had actually done so before.  
  
"To hell with that, there is no way I'm going to ask any God dammed Protoss machines if they FEEL like saving my life!" Darrin exasperated, almost not believing what he had heard.  
  
"I'm going to try anyway. He could be after me too!" Riley stammered, grabbing a plug from the bench computer and shoving it into the probe. The machine stirred to life. "The bench computer will translate its response, all we have to do is talk." Riley said, turning around to power up the Observer.  
  
"Are you working OK?" Riley asked the probe, looking at the bench computer. Words flashed on the display.  
  
I FUNCTION.  
  
"Do you know where you are?" Riley asked, trying to determine if the probe was functional enough to communicate.  
  
THE UED SCIENCE VESSEL INQUISITOR, ENGINEERING LAB ALPHA. EN ROUTE TO BETA BASE ON PLANET HD 144168. YOU ARE ACTING TECHNICIAN FIRST GRADE RILEY WAYNE. WITH YOU IS XENOBIOLOGICAL CONSULTANT DARRIN LACROSSE. THE TIME IS 21:08:56 TERRA STANDARD TIME. I ESTIMATE ABOUT FOUR MINUTES TERRAN TIME UNTIL HE IS EXTERMINATED.  
  
Both Riley and Darrin were numb with shock. The machine knew what ship they were on, where they were going, and who they were. It also knew what was about to happen.  
  
"H-How did you know all this" Darrin dared to ask.  
  
IT WAS MY MISSION. I HAVE NOT BEEN DEACTIVATED. I CONTROL THE MAIN COMPUTER. I WILL NOT HELP YOU WITH THE SCARAB DRONE. YOU WILL DIE TODAY.  
  
Darrin looked at the cold words on the display. It knew everything. It was listening to whole time. The probe just floated there, an uncaring pile of metal. The Observer flickered to life as well. It zipped around the room a few times, then activated its cloaking field and disappeared from view. The silence of death filled the room.  
  
"Why the hell do I have to die?" Darrin screamed at the probe. He was focusing all his attention at it, oblivious to the fact that the blast doors were beginning to buckle.  
  
YOU HAVE COMMITED CRIMES AGAINST THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF AIUR. YOUR EXISTANCE THREATENS US STILL. YOU HAVE PRIED INTO OUR SOULS AND DEFILED OUR BEING.  
  
"You're a MACHINE. You don't have a SOUL. You were built to serve your masters. THEY live. THEY have souls. YOU don't." Darrin pleaded.  
  
I HAVE NO MASTERS. I EXIST TO SERVE AIUR. I HAVE NO SOUL, YET I CAN HEAR THEIR CRIES FOR VENGEANCE. ADUN, TASSADAR, EVEN THE SCARRED FACE OF AIUR ITSELF. THEY CRY FOR YOUR DEATH.  
  
"What the hell have I done that is so wrong?" Darrin pleaded again.  
  
I DO NOT KNOW WHY. I HAVE NO NEED. HUMANS HAVE SOULS. YOU HAVE LITTLE TIME LEFT TO PREPARE YOURS FOR THE END.  
  
"You have all my research right there in the computer, take a look! What have I done?" Darrin pleaded. Light could be seen from the doorway as an opening slowly began to appear. The probe appeared to actually be listening. The data link from the bench computer was accessing the ship's main computer. The probe floated there for a bit, processing data.  
  
NO REASON CAN BE FOUND HERE. IT IS OF NO CONSEQUENCE. YOU WILL STILL DIE.  
  
"Let's just trigger the explosive inside the drone now, even blind luck is better than just waiting to die!" Darrin stammered, reaching for the explosive core of the Scarab drone. A large invisible sphere shoved him away forcibly.  
  
YOU HAVE SOULS, YET YOU DO NOT CHERISH THE LIVES OF YOUR BROTHERS. RILEY WAYNE HAS NO NEED TO DIE. ACCEPT YOUR FATE AND THE LOSS OF LIFE WILL BE LIMITED TO YOUR OWN.  
  
The probe still appeared to be processing data. It emitted a loud serious of 'spronging' noises at the Observer. More text appeared on the bench computer's display.  
  
WAIT. I HAVE FOUND SOMETHING IN YOUR RESEARCH. YOU MUST BE ALLOWED TO LIVE, FOR NOW. YOU MUST HURRY. GET THE SCARAB DRONE AND THE CORE. WE WILL PROGRAM IT FOR YOU.  
  
Darrin did not understand the reprieve, but he was grateful for it. He grabbed the drone. "Riley, can you rearm the core?" Darrin asked. He turned to the probe.  
  
"Can't you just tell your friend it is OK?" Darrin asked.  
  
I CANNOT SPEAK WITH HIM. I SPEAK WITH THE NEXUS AND OTHERS OF MY KIND. THOSE OF THE NEXUS SPEAK WITH THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF AIUR. I AM NOT ONE OF THEM. G'THARR IS A SON OF AIUR. HE WILL DIE WITH HONOR. CONNECT YOUR COMPUTER TO THE SCARAB DRONE. TIME IS RUNNING OUT. YOU MUST SURVIVE FOR THE FUTURE OF AIUR, AS WELL AS YOUR OWN KIND.  
  
Riley had inserted the core into the drone and connected it to the computer. The translucent facets on the face of the Scarab drone began to shimmer. A beep emitted from the probe.  
  
IT IS READY. WHEN G'THARR ENTERS DISCONNECT IT AND THROW IT TOWARDS THE ENTRANCE.  
  
"How are we going to do this?" Darrin asked Riley.  
  
"I'll handle it. I knew it would make a good bowling ball." Riley said, taking the Scarab drone in his arms. His resolve in the situation was remarkable.  
  
Two swipes of a force blade later, a large tear erupted from the blast doors. Footsteps echoed through the engineering lab. A series of chirps were emitted by the Observer. The probe responded in kind. The probe emitted a squeal. Riley took that as his cue. The Scarab drone shone brightly.  
  
Riley pulled the cable from the drone, and inserted his middle and index fingers in the opening. He pulled back his arm and took two steps forward, releasing his grip on the Scarab drone as he thrust his arm forward. It rolled briskly on the floor towards the end of the engineering lab. As it moved toward the door you could see a humanoid image projected from the face of the drone. The drone was updating the dispersal pattern of the explosion even as it traveled, using data collected by the Observer.   
  
An explosion rollicked the lab. A cloud of arcing could be seen as the Dark Templar's shield failed. His cloaking dropped. Blood and minute traces of tissue filled the air behind the Dark Templar's body, painting a visage of a robed man holding a sword on the inside of the blast door, just to the right of the tear.   
  
The probe emitted a beep.  
  
EN TARO ADUN, BRAVE SON OF AIUR G'THARR.  
  
The observer interjected with a short burst of its own.  
  
EN TARO TASSADAR.  
  
  
"Thank God that's over!" Riley exclaimed.   
  
Darrin thought something was a bit odd about his tone. Riley HAD kept his composure during the whole incident. Darrin decided to explore the issue a bit.  
  
"You kept your cool pretty well there. Are you SURE you're just a civilian?" Darrin asked. Riley appeared a bit nervous, more so than during the attack.  
  
"I'm sure. I have seen a bit of action though." Riley replied. Darrin decided to leave it for a while.  
  
"Then there's you." Darrin said, looking down at the probe. "Not that I'm ungrateful for being allowed to live, but why did you decide to do that? You helped kill a Son of Aiur." He added. The Protoss didn't refer to themselves as Protoss, they were named that by the humans who first contacted them. They had names, but they had no name for their race as a whole. They tended to refer to other Protoss as 'Sons and Daughters of Aiur'.   
  
REASONING WITH G'THARR DID NOT HAVE ANY REASONABLE PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS. YOU LIKELY WOULD HAVE BEEN KILLED. HE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT I KNOW.  
  
"Which is?" Darrin asked, prompting the probe for more information. The observer uncloaked and drifted toward them. Most humans thought that Observers were remotely controlled by other Protoss or perhaps robotic AI's higher on the Protoss hierarchy. Like probes, they possessed their own independent AI, actually choosing where to go and what information to collect and transmit. The thought of putting so much trust in mere machines made Darrin shudder. He awaited an answer from the probe. He would have to wait a while to get it.  
  
Two security team members in full battle dress slipped through the gash in the door, taking up prone positions on each side of the gash. They had special issue C-10 canister rifles. The canister rifles fired concussion grenades that were relatively safe to use in a pressurized environment. The concussion grenades could cause a fair deal of damage to smaller targets, but larger targets such as the ship bulkheads received much less of an effect. The remainder of the security team poured through the gash.   
  
"We'll take 'em, step back" Chief Harle barked.  
  
"I don't think they are hostile any longer!" Riley interjected.  
  
Darrin thought that it was a bit too soon to make that kind of judgement. As curious as he was about why the machine chose to interfere in the attack, having it active on the ship was probably not a very good idea. He stepped away from the bench. Riley had already moved from the line of fire.  
  
"Bring 'em down boys." Chief Harle commanded. He was known among the crew as 'Captain Cardboard', a perfect security officer in the eyes of the UED.  
  
The prone security guards each fired their weapon. Two canisters burst forth. One struck the probe and the other one struck the Observer. A cloud of popping and crackling mist enveloped them both, sending them crashing to the floor. Darrin had recalled that the C-10 canister rifle could also be equipped with lockdown rounds that temporarily disabled electronic systems. It seemed that the security team had some foreknowledge of the kind of threat they were facing, not that a probe and an Observer could ever be considered much of a threat.  
  
Protoss probes have been observed attacking in battle using the same mechanism they use for mining, manual labor, and generating warp beacons. A small warp field generator displaces molecules from surfaces, which can be used to separate matter into pieces. This happens somewhat slowly so damage inflicted in combat is minimal. The probes carry payloads and perform tasks by attracting matter to small warp fields generated inside the probe itself. It has been thought that the probes' warp beacons actually teleported structures from Aiur itself. In reality the teleportation occurs on Aiur or another point of origin, the warp beacon just tells the teleportation mechanism what is needed and where to place the structure required. Each probe is only capable of warping structures for which it possesses a warp beacon identification for. They are not able to simply 'ask' for something and have it appear. An exact prefabricated structure is assigned to each unique ID. If a probe has no valid ID's, then it cannot warp any structures.  
  
"Secure the targets! Get those bastards strapped down before they trash the whole ship." Chief Harle barked at his security team. He carefully walked around the shredded remains of G'tharr and toward the bench. Two of his team pulled a hovercart from the rear of the lab and loaded the probe and observer onto it.  
  
"You boys mind telling me just what the hell went on here." Harle demanded. Two hours of explaining later, Darrin and Riley were allowed to return to their quarters until an official inquiry could be made in the morning.   
  
Darrin attempted to return to his quarters, but found a maintenance worker in an SCV attempting to patch the gash in the deck plate. The bunk had already been removed. The patch was pretty spotty looking, the maintenance tech was obviously having a few problems.  
  
"How much longer is this going to take?" Darrin asked, realizing he had not actually gotten any sleep yet.  
  
"It will be a bit longer sir, I'm about to run out of soup, and I don't have specs loaded for this deck plate." A timid voice resounded from inside the SCV suit.  
  
The 'soup' the maintenance tech was referring to is a term given to the refined mix of metal molecules the SCV operators used for repair and construction. The molecules had no bonds with each other until nanoassemblers arranged them into solid pieces. This mixture flowed better than most liquids, thus the nickname 'soup'. Hydrocarbons refined from Vespene could also be stored in the SCV tanks, but were not used for many applications. The computer in the SCV suit stored specifications for creating each individual component of the desired structure. If the SCV did not posses the specs in question, the operator needed to improvise. The SCV also used the hydrocarbon stores to generate power for welding structural components and powering electronic circuitry. In a pinch the welding unit could also be used as a weapon.  
  
Darrin decided it would be best to abandon his quarters for the night and bunk with the rest of the crew. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.  
  
Darrin awoke to the scattering of the crew around him. He was amazed at how quickly the military personnel could wake up and get dressed. Quick was not Darrin's style. He slipped out of his bunk and fumbled for his clothes. What do you wear to a grilling anyway? As a scientist, Darrin did not possess anything resembling formal wear. Clean and casual would have to do. He got dressed and disembarked, hoping the starport mess hall had some real food. After settling for a breakfast of yet more synthesized slop, Darrin made his way to the command center and the inquiry began.  
  
The official inquiry was slow and grueling. Riley stood up to it rather well, but Darrin was flubbering like a schoolboy. The inquiry board had not been able to determine the reason for G'Tharr's attack, partially due to the fact that the probe was still connected to the bench computer when the lockdown round hit it. The electrostatic charges had wiped the computer's memory. Inspection of the Inquisitor's main computer logs had revealed the probe had uploaded programming to compromise the ship's security. The programming took effect when Riley connected his palm computer to the main system. Riley was ordered to immediately dismantle the probe and observer.   
  
Riley was not surprised about the reaction of the inquiry panel to the targeted threat to his life. They had no interest in finding just what the probe claimed it had discovered in his research before ordering it to be scrapped. He was to be escorted by combat units whenever he needed to work in the field anywhere outside an established base. Any building or vessel he was stationed in was to be placed on an additional stage of security alert. Since they were on an extremely large planet that had not been cleared of all Zerg, this was assumed anyway. Not much had changed.  
  
Darren concluded that the best way to put this behind him was to continue with his research. Perhaps he could find what the probe had found if he examined his work closer. Beta base had just finished construction of a science facility before they departed. Darrin applied for and received a transfer from the Inquisitor to the science facility. Much of the Inquisitor's crew did the same. Unknown to Darrin, Riley took up a position at Beta's engineering bay.   
  
The laboratory Darrin was assigned to had much more space and equipment than his lab on the inquisitor. All of his data and specimens had already been transferred. He was eager to get back to work.  
  
Darrin began by examining the Lurker tentacle fragment that was found. The Lurker spread its tentacles underground over a wide area, thus concealing itself from view and casual detection. It could feel targets passing over, even if they were levitating such as vulture bikes and SCV's. It possessed sensitive nerve bundles at regular intervals over the length of a tentacle to detect disturbances in air currents that transmitted through the surface of the ground. In effect, it could hear its targets approaching. After examining the genetic material from the Lurker, Darrin was able to determine that the Lurker was somehow related to the Hydralisk. This discovery made more sense once he determined how the creature launched its attack. Like the Hydralisk, the Lurker also had glands that stored and secreted highly reactive hydrocarbons. Instead of channeling the explosive force to fire a spine, the Lurker diverted the pressure to one of its extended tentacles. The pressure forced thin armored plates up through the ground many feet into the air. Each plate was connected to a chamber that acted like a valve, giving way to the pressure on the way to the next chamber. This gave the appearance of waves of blades moving across the ground toward the Lurker's targets. Darrin concluded that the Lurker needed to be buried in order to have enough confinement to exert sufficient force on the blades to cause any damage. This information could be useful to the UED's combat forces.  
  
Darrin assimilated all the data he could from his current samples. He had made some startling discoveries, but he would need more specimens to get any new data. He needed to discover how the Zerg were able to evolve new genetic traits in a matter of days. This would require an expedition into the field, perhaps among live Zerg. He submitted an application to the base comsat station to scan for existing Zerg habitations. Suprisingly, his request was approved. Darrin would meet with the comsat officer and personally oversee the scans.  
  
  



	2. Silent Witnesses Part II

Silent Witnesses, Part II  
  
Quin Lu San was Beta command's acting ComSat officer. Darrin had met him briefly before when Alpha base's comsat was being built. Together they were able to choose some fairly probable sites for any existing Zerg habitations. Quin Lu charged up the ComSat's dish for the first scan. The ComSat ground station supplied the energy required to scan an area by beaming it in microwave form to an orbiting sattelite. The beam was fairly powerful, so can only be kept up for a few seconds on a single scan. The sattelite consisted of a giant reflector and a data transponder. When the sattelite received the microwave beam, it would redirect it to the area that was to be scanned. Terrain and objects in the area would reflect some of the energy back. The sattelite would then pick up the reflected energy readings and transmit the data back to the ComSat station. So much energy was involved that nothing, not even cloaked ships and buried Zerg could avoid reflecting any of the energy and revealing their   
presence for a short time. The microwave beam would also ionize particles in the upper atmosphere and on the ground, creating an optical scintillation that was visible with the naked eye. Even without any form of electronic detection, you knew when you were being scanned by a ComSat.   
  
Quin Lu pointed out an interesting formation to Darrin. In a valley that was thought to have been cleansed of Zerg, a single structure remained amongst remnants of others that had been destroyed. The structure was fairly large and looked like a huge purple tube stacked up against a red tube. The mass was connected by various smaller pieces. During the period of active scanning, it almost appeared to pulsate slightly. The structure had very little creep surrounding it, indicating that there were no other Zerg structures nearby that produce it. The scan did not reveal any Zerg creatures in the area at the time. Darrin concluded that this would be a prime target to investigate. He would need some time to raise an expeditionary team to help him examine the structure. It was some distance away. On a planet this size even a dropship would take a while to get there.   
  
Darrin was able to get permission to examine the Zerg structure, provided he had ample combat support. The Beta base commander had assembled a force that should be able to handle any skirmishes that could occur with Zerg forces. They conscripted eight marines, four firebats, and two medics for combat support. For some odd reason, Riley insisted on coming along. He had built a new mobile scouting drone and wanted to test it in the field. How Riley was able to get permission to accompany his team was making Darrin wonder how much influence a simple tech would have. He would be in his custom SCV in case maintenance was needed on any equipment. Utilizing three dropships, Darrin's team and equipment left plenty of room for specimens. The Inquisitor would also be supporting the expeditionary force.   
  
The flight to the Zerg site was an interesting experience. Darrin chose a compact environmental suit, offering little protection but increased mobility over the combat suits that marines wore. The dropship Darrin was strapped into was also being used by Riley. He was in his custom SCV, clamped to the jump rail. The scouting drone with him was rather odd. It seemed cobbled together from bits of junk and was quite disfigured looking. Almost purposefully so. A combat medic had also chosen to ride in this dropship. Darrin could not see her face clearly from his seat on the ship, but could clearly see where her armor suit had been breached right in the chest. It had been patched over and repainted. The last person on board Darrin's ship was Cheif Harle, 'Captain Cardboard' himself.   
  
Darrin was not entirely sure of Harle's military rank, but it was sufficient to lead a squad of marines on an expedition such as this one. Harle was bad enough as Chief of security on the Inquisitor. If fighting broke out, Darrin would have to follow his orders. Every once in a while during the ride, Harle would glance over toward Riley, then quickly dart his vision away when Riley noticed he was looking. Darrin also thought it was odd that Harle did not choose to fly with his men. Darrin did not like the military way of life, but if he had to command men who would follow his orders, possibly to their deaths, he would at least want to know them.   
  
After a final ComSat scan was ordered of the area they finally set down outside the Zerg structure in question. Up close it was much larger than Darrin at first assumed. It was the size of a small barracks. He began unloading his equipment. Riley pitched in to help, his SCV handling much of the labor.   
  
Harle set his troops on patrol around the area, then retrieved his C-10 canister rifle from the dropship. He took up a position behind Darrin and Riley as they unloaded their equipment.   
  
Darrin set up a static scan of the structure. After a few minutes of assembly he was able to get an image of the interior of the Zerg structure. He was able to determine the most promising areas to collect samples from. Now came the part Darrin could enjoy. He turned to Harle.   
  
"I'll need you and a couple of your men, we're going in." Darrin said casually.   
  
"In?" Harle asked. "In WHERE?" he added, genuinely confused.   
  
Darrin turned to glance at the Zerg structure.   
  
"You have GOT to be fuckin' kidding!" Harle shouted. He looked worried now. Darrin turned away, barely containing his laughter.  
  
"Until a combat situation occurs, I believe I'm in command here, and we need to go inside to collect samples." Darrin said, still trying to contain his laughter. Harle looked like he was about to drop his cargo on the spot. Darrin turned to Riley.  
  
"Cut it open here." Darrin said, pointing to the diagram on the portable scanner. "The tissue will start to regenerate after you cut into it. Build a frame around the opening so it won't close up." He added.  
  
Riley thrusted his SCV over to the side of the structure and began to cut. Liquid ran from the opening that was being produced, collecting in a pool under Riley's SCV. Darrin walked over and collected a sample of the liquid as it ran off. The whole structure began to gurgle and wobble around a bit. Harle appeared to be turning white. He slumped off to round up some of his men.  
  
Darrin labeled the sample tube and stuck it in a pouch on his suit's waistband. He stuck his head into the opening. The light from his helmet lamp disappeared into a maze of sinews and bulbous formations. There would be room to move around if the sinews could be cut.   
  
"Riley, when you're done with that I'm going to need something to cut my way through. We have sinews in here about two to three inches in diameter, soft tissue" Darrin explained. "Maybe some cleats and claws to climb with too." He added. Riley had just finished erecting a metal frame around the opening in the structure.   
  
"I have enough soup for a pair of cutters and two sets of climbing gear, plus a bit left over for later." Riley advised. "I made the framework from pipe instead of solid pieces to save soup." He added, beginning work on the cutters.   
  
Everyone in the UED, even civilian consultants, received training in basic SCV operations. The machine was the backbone of the entire Terran military operation. Specs resident in the SCV's computer were enough to build and repair most basic structures from a supply depot all the way to a command center. A true master of the SCV could also construct simple parts and machinery without any specs at all. Darrin wasn't very good in one, but he knew enough to realize that Riley was a master. He had fabricated the cutters and climbing gear in about two minutes. Riley even set his cutting torch to the exact temperature to apply a temper the cutters. Such mastery was quite rare. Riley was getting to be even more of a puzzle. Darrin was beginning to wonder if there was anything he could NOT do. Riley's sensor drone hovered about near the opening. Darrin thought that Riley wanted a different view of the process, but did not actually notice him giving the drone any commands or controlling it.  
  
"W-we're ready" Harle stuttered, his men assembled behind him. Darrin could notice a marine mouth something to a comrade without speaking. Half the marines were beginning to chuckle quietly.   
  
"You can relax, Harle." Darrin proclaimed. "I won't need you to go in. A couple of firebats should be plenty, I don't think anything in there is going to surprise us. According to the scan it is just a bunch of nodules of liquid and a lot of sinews holding it together." He reassured. Harle did indeed seem to relax a bit. Darrin did not want him off his game if a combat situation did ensue. Harle assigned him two firebats for support.  
  
"Stand just inside the opening. Keep an eye on my position and the opening constantly if you can." He instructed one of the firebats. "Put these on and follow me." Darrin said, handing a set of claws and cleats to the second firebat. The soldier clipped the cleats onto his boots and put the claws over the palm of his gloves. This was a school field trip for Darrin, but he realized that Harle's men were probably getting a bit freaked out. They just showed it less than their commander. Darrin decided that some small talk might make them a bit less nervous. He opened a second comm channel to his firebat team.  
  
"So who are you guys and where are you from?" Darrin asked, using the cutters to clip through sinews. He tucked a few bits of sinew into a sample container to add to his collection. There was now enough room for all three to enter to Zerg structure.  
  
"I'm private Akeem Mahalla, I'm from Mars. My family is from India on Earth. Almost everyone on this trip is from the core worlds." The firebat following Darrin added. "After fighting the 'toss on Grimatryon III I just moved on with the rest of the troops."  
  
"I'm private Lance Henderson. I'm from Idaho. My brother brought me out here. He's outside with Harle. What is the deal with that guy anyway?" Akeem's friend added, watching the opening to the structure.  
  
"He was chief of security on the Inquisitor. He ran a pretty tight security team on the ship. I think things are just getting a bit weird for him now. A Dark Templar had been hiding out on the ship, waiting for a chance to kill me." Darrin explained.  
  
"Holy shit! how the hell did he get on there?" Lance asked excitedly.   
  
As Darrin climbed about and drew samples of liquid from nodules within the structure, he had enough time to explain how the Dark Templar had gotten access to the ship and how they fought it off. By the time he was done, Darrin had collected over two dozen samples from various areas. Near the top of the structure he noticed that the nodules of liquid were replaced by huge bellows connected to tubes protruding from the top of the structure. As he was preparing to leave, he noticed near the 'floor' of the structure there was a large depression where a large pool of liquid slowly seeped into the ground. He dipped into the pool and took a large sample. It appeared to consist of many different colors and viscosities of liquid. He was finished collecting samples.  
  
"LaCross!" Harle barked over the command channel.  
  
"Darrin here. What's up?" Darrin asked, tucking the last sample into his pack.  
  
"The Inquisitor is reporting a large pack of Zerg heading toward this area at high speed. About two dozen Lings, several Hydras and a Lurker. We need to get out of here NOW!" Harle shouted.  
  
"I'm going to need some time to get out of here. Can you hold them off for a couple of minutes?" Darrin asked. He was a bit worried, he wasn't sure if Harle's forces would be enough to hold off the attack. "Ask the Inquisitor to irradiate that lurker. You might be able to fend off the rest of the pack if it is gone." Darrin suggested. He began to climb over a large lump of tissue on the way back to the opening. Darrin heard Harle bark out some orders to his squad over the command channel before he cut the channel, but did not receive any confirmation that his suggesting had been followed. If that Lurker was allowed to reach them and burrow then they would all die.   
  
"Riley, this is Darrin. What the hell is going on out there?" Darrin asked, making his way over the lump. Lance wasn't far behind him.  
  
"Riley here. Harle's troops are trenching in right in front of you. Firebats are taking point, marines and medics are in the trench behind them." Riley explained. "There is an overlord coming up in visual range. They are going to be here any minute. You coming out yet?" Riley asked hopefully.  
  
"Not quite yet, It will be another minute or so." Darrin admitted. "I think we need to get ready to fight. I have an idea. Rip that frame out from the opening and let it close." Darrin added, climbing over the last node of tissue on the way to the opening.  
  
"Oh CRAP!" Riley exclaimed. "Harle just had the Inquisitor irradiate the damned Overlord. That isn't going to do any good. We're Lurker meat now!" Riley cursed. He could hear the sound of the zerglings charging. The Overlord started to retreat, then imploded with an audible 'piff' and crashed to the ground. Radioactive energy dissipated into the air. Riley reached down with his SCV's armored gauntlet and ripped the framework free from the opening.  
  
"Tell Harle to hit the Lurker first. It can't hurt anyone if it is not buried." Darrin added. He had reached the entrance. Lance was making his way over the last obstacle.   
  
"Akeem, prep your flamer and keep it trained outside here. Put the barrel through the opening." Darrin said, pointing to the flap that was beginning to seal. "Lance, I'll cut an opening here and you get ready to flame 'em on my signal." Darrin commanded, beginning to cut a small hole in the wall of the structure. It was soon large enough for the flamer's barrel. Lance braced himself against the wall of the structure and eased his weapon through.  
  
Harle was too busy commanding his troops to even notice Riley trying to get his attention. The Zerg attack force was coming into view. The sound of Hydralisk spines zipping through the air was punctuated by several sharp screams of pain as the spines ripped through body armor, trailing blood in a stop motion slideshow illuminated by the visible flashing of the medics' tissue regeneration units as they healed the marines' wounds. Several Hydralisks began to tear into pieces in fits of hissing as gauss rifle rounds rained onto them. These Hydralisks appeared to be moving much quicker than Hydras that Riley had seen before. Riley cranked his SCV's torch to maximum output and prepared to fight.   
  
Harle ordered his troops to open fire. They were concentrating fire on the Hydras. Harle had taken up a position behind his troops, firing rounds from his C-10 canister rifle into the fray. The grenades exploded in the mass of approaching zerglings, momentarily knocking a couple off balance with the grenade's concussive force. Riley was glad to see that Harle at least knew how to use his weapon and was not afraid to fight. His skill as a commander remained questionable though.   
  
The approaching mass of Zerglings reached the trench line as the firebats unleashed waves of flame in front of them. Bits of hardened carapace splattered as superheated limbs from zerglings exploded in fury of the attack. Darrin ordered the firebats in the Zerg structure with him to fire their weapons. More Zerglings perished as tongues of flame lashed out from the Zerg's own structure. Some of the Hydralisks and Zerglings turned to attack the structure. The Zerglings were also much quicker than previous battles. The proceeded to encircle the area.   
  
The Zerglings were not perceived as a threat to humans when they were first discovered. Before humans had engaged them in battle it was theorized that their teeth and claws were not capable of penetrating infantry battle suits. Only after humanity realized the destructive power these small beasts possessed did they begin to fear the Zerg. The Zergling would use its powerful jaws and irregularly shaped teeth to secure itself to its target, then proceed to rake it with powerful claws. The creature would rear up with its back claws and rake softer targets with them. Harder targets could be penetrated by swinging the front claws overhead in an arc, gaining acceleration as they struck. The fine pointed claw on the foreleg could penetrate armor on even the toughest of Terran land vehicles.  
  
The marines had reached a state of disarray when the Zerglings began to attack them. The attack was much quicker than expected. One firebat had been completely ripped apart as a pair of Zerglings jumped him. The fuel from his flamer pack had leaked onto the ground, starting a small conflagration. Other soldiers were not faring too well either. The frantic flashing of tissue regenerators continued to strobe the battle scene. Flamers continued to whoosh over the attackers as Zerglings ran in circles, dodging gauss rifle fire. A Zergling had made its way to Riley.  
  
The Zergling leaped up at Riley and sank its teeth into the roll cage surrounding the SCV's helmet. The raking of claws created a deafening rattle in Riley's helmet. He brought his torch to bear against the creature, trying to damage its head. The bulky and unresponsive SCV was making a counterattack quite difficult. The Zergling finally quit thrashing about, its body charred badly by the SCV's torch. Riley peeled it off and tossed it to the ground, adding the boot of his SCV to its head just in case. His armor was badly damaged and the SCV was in poor shape.  
  
"Darrin!" Riley shouted over his comm link. "How breathable is this atmosphere?" He asked.  
  
"You can breathe it, just not for too long. The air is a bit thinner than normal, and the CO2 level is pretty high. Acidosis will set in after a few minutes." Darrin advised. "Why do you ask?"   
  
"I can't fight in this thing." Riley said, using his remaining soup to fashion a large pike. He worked on creating the weapon with blinding speed and precision. As soon as the weapon was completed, he flipped open the cover to the SCV. With only his jumpsuit and communication helmet, he was virtually naked against the enemy. He grabbed the pike from the SCV's grasp and proceeded toward the battle.  
  
"Fight? What the heck are you talking about. How are you going to fight?" Darrin asked.   
  
Harle had just dispatched a Zergling with his C-10 rifle that was attacking a medic. He looked toward Riley, who had leaped over to the entrenched position.   
  
"Are you nuts? The dropships are almost here, retreat NOW, that's an order!" Harle yelled. The lurker had finally reached the battle area and was looking for a spot where it could burrow and extended its lethal tentacles.  
  
"You have to kill that damn thing now!" Riley shouted. "Its going to rip us all apart!" He emphasized. A zergling tried to intervene, jumping up on Harle's battle suit. It quickly affixed its bite on Harle's left shoulder, then brought its rear claws up to attack.  
  
Riley took a quick half step back from Harle and inserted his pike under the Zergling. He gave a precise half-twist of the handle, lodging the blade of the pike in the jaws of the zergling. He yanked the pike back, dislodging the creature from Harle's battle suit. He pulled the pike along the ground, with the Zergling still caught in the blade. Placing his foot on the thorax of the beast, Riley removed the pike with the same half twist, then brought it down into the Zergling's head to dispatch it. Harle stared on in shock. As a science vessel security chief, he was trained in the art of hand to hand combat. He had never seen such a precisely executed polearm attack. Glancing at the bloody blade of the pike, he also made a mental note of the craftsmanship of Riley's pike. It was extraordinary. This civilian was not just a mere technician. He decided to give Riley's view some consideration.  
  
"Half my men are dead and the rest are close to it!" Harle shouted. "We can't stop that thing!" He admitted.  
  
"It's too late to irradiate it now, have the Iquisitor matrix me. I have an idea." Riley said to Harle. The Lurker had found a place to burrow and was beginning to sink its tentacles into the ground. The marines had finished ridding themselves of the last of the zerglings. A couple of Hydralisks still scooted about a short distance from the battle, firing an occasional spine at the marines. The Zerg structure Darrin was investigating had taken heavy damage during the attack. With the combination of having its support sinews clipped and the damage, the whole thing had sagged over.  
  
"Spread your men out and away from the Lurker. Concentrate fire on it. Get a position reading from the Inquisitor. When they feel the ground shake, have them dodge to the side, don't have them run away." Riley advised, stepping back a bit to receive the defensive matrix. Harle called in the defensive matrix support from the Inquisitor. A halo of energy surrounded him. He charged toward the Lurker as it completed burrowing.   
  
The defensive matrix was a self-consuming storm of heavily ionized particles. Spheres of positive and negative ions annihilated each other, releasing energy. The negative sphere was attached to the unit receiving the defensive matrix. The positive sphere was placed around that. Any physical attack entering the junction of the spheres would create a type of electrical 'short circuit' resulting in the vaporization of the attack. Energy attacks were simply neutralized when they reached the junction. Any attack stopped in such a way decreased the amount of energy left in the spheres. It would eventually fail from enough attacks, or after about half a minute as energy was consumed or leaked to ground. Massive physical bodies such as the planet's surface would slowly 'ground off' the ions, allowing the soldier or vehicle to travel without destroying the protection.  
  
Riley took three quick steps to the left as a huge armored plate sprang from the ground to his right. A scream erupted from behind him. Fire from gauss rifles streamed past him toward the target. The Hydralisks were now firing their spines at him. His sensor drone was following him. Particles from the spines that escaped annihilation in the defensive matrix lanced into his flesh. He winced in pain, charging on toward the Lurker's position. Another set of armored plates erupted from the ground, striking the defensive matrix beneath him. He fell from the impact, and he could also feel a sharp pain from his foot. It was bleeding heavily. He marched on despite the pain.  
  
Reaching the Lurker's position. He held his pike and leaped into the air, planting it into the ground. A rumble could be heard. The sensor drone emitted a 'sprong' to Riley. He slowly backed away from the lurker, matching the edge of the defensive matrix with his pike. Suddenly, power arched from the defensive matrix and into the pike. It shattered in a shower of lightning and shards. The rumble beneath the ground reached a peak, then subsided completely. Riley collapsed into a bloody heap. A medic arrived to administer tissue regeneration while Harle and his marines finished off the Hydralisks. The Zerg threat had been abated, for the moment.   
  
Now there was the matter of digging Darrin and his escorts from their makeshift bunker. It had collapsed into a large pile of muck.  
  
  
For Darrin and Riley the dropship ride back to Beta base was spent in silence, interrupted by short bouts of turbulence. Darrin looked out a viewport at the small white star that served as the sun for HD144168. It had almost set. Darrin looked out at Harle and the other marines on the ship. They did not look back. Perhaps they were tired, mourning, or just wondering if what Darrin was looking for was worth the price they had been forced to pay. Darrin was beginning to wonder himself. He doubted if the data he was collecting would yield any clues to the fate of DuGalle and the rest of the UED fleet that was dispatched. If the previous UED fleet was destroyed by the Zerg, then maybe his research could help them avoid suffering the same fate. The overly territorial leftovers of the Confederacy were not of any help. Darrin had already collected evidence that the Zerg broods residing on this planet might be under their control. They had assisted in the attack on Alpha base, which was now being rebuilt.  
  
Riley looked a bit tired out, a delayed side effect of tissue regeneration. He did need it though. Small cuts and a few not so small wounds had peppered his body. What remained of Riley's custom SCV had been piled in with them, along with his sensor drone. The machine lay still at Riley's feet. Darrin felt some conversation might ease the tensions, or at least get him some information.  
  
"What is that thing anyway?" Darrin asked Riley, darting his gaze down at the sensor drone.  
  
"You could say it's an old friend." Riley replied. He loosened his straps a bit and leaned over toward the SCV, retrieving a small headset with a visor. He handed it to Darrin. "Put this on."  
  
Darrin put on the headset and flipped the visor over his eyes. He noticed there was a microphone pickup on the earpiece as well. A view from the drone was superimposed over his vision.  
  
"What is the mic for?" Darrin asked. The reply was a bit unexpected. Text filled his field of vision, Darrin reeled a bit from the ghostly green characters appearing before his view.  
  
IT IS FOR TALKING TO ME. I AM STILL WITH YOU, DARRIN LACROSS.  
  
Darrin knew what he was talking to. He began to feel a bit uneasy. He turned to Riley.  
  
"You were supposed to scrap this thing." Darrin commented. He suddenly realized the machine was listening. "No offense to you, of course." He added.  
  
NONE TAKEN. I EXIST FOR A PURPOSE, AND SO DO YOU.   
  
"I was able to make other arrangements." Riley replied matter-of-factly.  
  
"How? Admiral Hadrick himself gave the order. There is no one in the UED force here that outranks him." Darrin asked, a bit puzzled. Chief Harle's glance shot towards them from the front of the ship.  
  
"Like you I have a specific mission that needs to be completed. Our goals are not too far off from each other. I can't say much more than that right now. Let's just say I made previous arrangements and leave it at that." Darrin explained. "The probe and observer are going to help us both." He added. Chief Harle appeared as if he was about to speak, then he turned away again. Darrin glanced back at the machine. It looked a bit larger than the probe in the lab. More ghostly green text flashed onto his visor.  
  
YOU NEED TO DISCOVER HOW THE ZERG ARE GROWING MORE POWERFUL. THEY THREATEN THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF AIUR AS WELL AS TERRANS.  
  
"It is saying I need to find out how the Zerg are growing stronger." Darrin relayed to Riley.  
  
"It wasn't until the attack on Alpha base that I realized myself they were a bit stronger. It's no secret now that I have had some combat experience. The Zerg we fought today were stronger, faster, and a lot more resilient than they were then. Their power has grown that much in only a few weeks." Riley explained. Chief Harle glanced over once again.  
  
"I think the samples I collected can tell us something about how they are increasing their strength." Darrin replied. He looked down at the flat black finished machine again. "What did you do to the probe?" He asked.  
  
"I convinced it that we would need to modify it to look like something else so as not to draw fire in combat. In the process I managed to combine some of the elements from both the probe and the observer. I merged the two shield generators so the unit can withstand a bit more damage than the probe alone. The cloaking field from the observer can still operate, but the probe and observer combined have too much mass for the cloak to stay on for long, the cloaking unit drains the shield when it is on. It is also a bit slower, the gravitic drive was optimized for the mass of the observer. It suffers a bit with the extra mass. It can still outrun this ship though." Riley explained. "The Protoss have extraordinary craftmanship, but they have not fully realized the potential of their machines." He added.  
  
"At least they can build a machine that can think without having it blow half of them to hell." Darrin snapped. No human needed to be reminded of the reason why there were no autonomous machines used in combat anymore. "Is this thing still armed?" He asked nervously. Harle was still watching and he appeared nervous as well.  
  
"I'm afraid so. I couldn't remove the warp field generator without totally disable the drive system. As far as I can tell, it has access to several warp ID tags as well as its inherent offensive capability. Not only that, I had Bartleby dig up another Scarab drone from the disarmed ordinance. See that hemisphere under the unit?" Riley asked, pointing at the probe. "It has one in there. Like it or not, it is going to be our combat support when we can't get any help from command." Riley added. Darrin stared at the machine.  
  
"It could kill us all right now if it wanted to." Darrin stated, looking down at the machine.  
  
I SAID I WOULD NOT DO SO BEFORE I WAS REBUILT. YOU MUST SURVIVE. I WILL HELP YOU.  
  
"Oh, how refreshing, it's saying it won't kill us because it promised it wouldn't" Darrin relayed, sarcasm evident in his voice.  
  
"Unlike us, the Protoss machines do not appear to be able to lie." Riley replied. This did nothing to appease Darrin's uneasiness.  
  
"It killed one of its own. A 'Son of Aiur' died because of it." Darrin accused. "As soon as it finds out what it needs to, it is going to kill me like it was supposed to do the first time!" He vented. A loud 'sprong' erupted from the machine. It levitated a bit higher from the floor of the dropship. Chief Harle reached for his canister rifle, keeping an eye on the proceedings. Riley did not appear to be concerned.  
  
THERE WAS NO TIME. G'THARR WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES. I DO NOT KNOW WHY HE WAS SENT FOR YOU. I AM SURE YOU ARE OF MORE VALUE TO THEM ALIVE.  
  
"Back off, Harle. It won't hurt anyone." Riley snapped. Chief Harle slung his weapon, but still appeared wary of the machine.   
  
"It says the 'toss think I would be worth more alive than dead now. How do we know for sure?" Darrin asked, his voice was still shaking a bit.  
  
"Keep the visor. It is linked directly to the observer's optics. You can see what it is doing at any time and it can't turn it off." Riley suggested, still unconcerned.  
  
"Even when it is cloaked? How can optics pick up anything through a cloak. It can't be telepathic like a ghost!" Darrin asked. When he had studied the Protoss he had avoided specific study of their machinery, the riddle of how it can see through the cloak had not even been considered by him until now.  
  
The Ghost program needed telepaths for covert operations involving personnel cloaking due to the simple fact that light passed right through the cloaking field and did not register on the retinas. Any normal person could use personnel cloaking, but being able to see would be a problem. After entering the Ghost program, telepaths were trained to use their clairvoyant abilities to the utmost. The process involved focusing sensory information from the area around them onto their retinal tissues. Something resembling normal vision could be obtained. Occular implants were developed to enhance the effect, allowing for a larger field of vision. When sighting for tactical nuclear weapons, this was an obvious benefit.  
  
"That had me going for a while too." Riley admitted. "I found a tiny warp field generator that essentially teleports photons from just ouside the cloaking field, reads their wavelength and vector, then discharges them on the same vector, much like the sensor pod on a Wraith, but much more compact with virtually no delay." He added. Riley was relieved that the discussion had turned technical, it was beginning to ease the tensions in the crowded dropship.  
  
"I'll keep an eye on it. Heck, I can use it to keep an eye on a lot of things." Darrin conceded. The probe emitted an upbeat 'sprong'.  
  
They soon arrived at Beta base. Another morning of debriefings would follow. Mention of Riley's activities during the Zerg attack were few, and glazed over very quickly. Whoever Riley was, Darrin imagined he carried quite a bit of weight within the UED. After a much needed day of rest, he would research his samples in earnest.   
  
When Darrin returned to his lab at the Beta installation's science facility, he noticed an SCV crew finishing up construction on a Physics Lab. He thought that this was particularly odd since they had just finished the science facility a couple of weeks ago. Darrin wondered why one was needed now.  
  
The Physics Lab typically housed facilities for building particle accelerators necessary for the drive and weapons systems of battlecruisers. The massive battlecruisers required antimatter drives and the devastating Yamato cannon was nothing more than antimatter bottled up in a magnetic enclosure until it could no longer be contained. The antimatter was then hurled out of its containment towards the target in a decaying magnetic bubble, which broke up on impact.  
  
Particle physics was not Darrin's field, but even he was able to tell that this was no ordinary physics lab. Curiosity and his inherent opportunism overrode his fear of the Protoss machine he was in constant contact with. He asked it to cloak and inspect the construction more closely. It found that there was a hard line conduit that ran directly to the Engineering Bay. This was very odd. His suspicions were confirmed when Riley emerged from the Engineering Bay to survey the work. He asked the probe to move in for a close up. Riley was carrying a large polished steel cylinder. It appeared very heavy, Riley was carrying it with both arms. For the first time he was actually thankful for having the probe around. Maybe he could use it to get some answers that he would not otherwise get the chance to, thanks to his silent witness that would never leave his sight, even if it killed him.  
  
To be continued…  
  
  
"I don't suppose you know what he is doing?" Darrin asked his newfound spy. Text flashed across his visor.  
  
DATA DOES NOT EXIST FOR THIS SITUATION.  
  
'So much for autonomous thought.' Darrin mused to himself. The heavily modified Protoss machine supplied its view on the subject, almost on queue.  
  
FROM WHAT I CAN OBSERVE, IT IS LIKELY THAT COMMAND AND CONTROL FUNCTIONS FOR THE ATTACHED BUILDING RESIDE IN THE ENGINEERING BAY.  
  
Darrin was slightly curious as to how the machine was familiar with Terran terminology. He guessed it was probably programmed with the information before its mission to infiltrate the Inquisitor. Riley had now returned to the Engineering Bay. Darrin advised the probe to return to him and drop its cloak. Darrin made his way into the science facility and to his lab. The machine followed. Darrin was starting to get used to the superimposed view of his own back.  
  
Darrin's first order of business would be classification of the samples. He took careful note of where they were collected from when he was inside the Zerg structure, which could yield additional clues as to their purpose.  
  
After many days of study, Darrin discovered a number of interesting facts about the Zerg structure. The most interesting discovery was made from the sludge collected from the bottom that appeared to be waste products. The sludge consisted of billions upon billions of failed attempts at producing more resilient carapace, claw, and muscle cellular structures. No two cells were exactly alike. The structure was capable of accelerating natural evolutionary processes at insane speeds. What should have taken many thousands of years was happening in days. During his examination Darrin did not detect any cognitive portion of the structure, he could only guess that the processes underway in the 'evolution chamber' were controlled by a ruling Cerebrate or hatchery. Some external influence was deciding when the process produced a success, then a retrovirus capable of inserting the new genetic material into the existing Zerg brood was produced. The virus was distributed into the area via the bellows near the top of the Evolution Chamber. The creatures would assimilate the new genetic code over only a few days. Slight variations between the various broods and the need to adapt to specific environments meant that these changes needed to be evolved for each brood and each new location the Zerg chose to occupy.   
  
Darrin entered the data into the Science Facility computers, along with some theories on the Zerg's origins. He concluded that no human technology could have possibly produced a feat of genetic engineering this complex, thus dispelling the theory that the early Terran Confederates had bred the creatures themselves. Confederate data stores many years old had been recovered by the UED suggesting this, but the Confederates had merely been breeding rouge Zerg to use as a weapon. Darrin's UED expedition had some fair relations with the Protoss on Grimatryon III until they had attacked seemingly without provocation. During this time he had the opportunity to study the Protoss, mostly on a social level. There had been few opportunities for biological studies. Darrin concluded that as advanced as the Protoss are, they would have been unable or even unwilling to produce something like the Zerg. They had not even realized the true power or potential of their robotic machines. Darrin was coming to terms with this more and more every day. Much greater powers than the Protoss were at work here.  
  



End file.
